Punnathur Kotta Elephant Sanctuary - Guruvayur, Kerala

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I asked my American friend who visited Kerala, "Have you seen elephants?."


He replied - "Yes, in the forest!"


"Not about the forest! Have you seen elephants inside a town/city?"


"How is that possible?" - he asked me.


"Some of the ancient temples in South India have elephants," - I replied.


"Really! then, how big would the temples be" - he exclaimed. He added - "Is there any temple with more than one elephant?"


"Yes, there are such temples. In fact, there is a temple in Kerala state with around 50 elephants".


When you think of Guruvayur town in Kerala state, you will definitely think about the Guruvayurappan temple. Then, you cannot resist thinking about the beautiful image of Lord Guruvayurappan and elephants. Guruvayurappan temple is one of the temples in India having a large number of elephants. It is prevalent among the significant South Indian temples to have elephants. However, the number of elephants in each temple would generally be one, rarely 2-3. However, the Guruvayurappan temple has around 50 temples offered by devotees.

As the temple complex was obviously not too big to keep all the elephants, the temple administration of Guruvayurappan temple runs an elephant sanctuary. The name of the elephants' shelter is "Punnathur Kotta". It is located at a distance of around 3 km from Guruvayurappan temple. The sanctuary houses more than 50 elephants. This site was an ancient site used by Kerala kings. The sanctuary also has a small temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Punnathur Kotta is a unique sanctuary where you can find only elephants and not other animals. You can enjoy watching elephants bathing, working, tilting their heads and trunks, and doing all sorts of activities. It is fun to monitor even a single elephant and its movement. Here, you get an opportunity to watch more than 50 elephants. This will definitely be a fun-filled picnic for you.

Happy travelling.






Visit my site, krishnakumartk.com, to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written. 


Coorg



Comments

  1. NAHARANIFriday, July 13, 2012

    We too visited here along with our mum daughters by last year summer trip .. such a liveshow of elephants maintenance we saw..the bathing ones, the walking ones, the eating ones too much to say that cannot be explain in words.. thanks to guruvayurappan.. kids enjoys the visual life of elephants at their natural original forest place.. once again thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indian ColumbusFriday, July 13, 2012

    Thanks Naharani.

    ReplyDelete

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